America’s Cup boat rescue stories differ

The seafaring saga of the French team’s America’s Cup World Series runaway boat, and an attempt by a Treasure Island scavenger to extract a $200,000 bounty, continues.

The 45-foot catamaran, Energy, broke free of its mooring in the wee hours of Sept. 30. Todd Tholke says in court documents that he spotted the boat about 3:30 a.m. when it drifted onto the rocks at Treasure Island and towed it to safety. Then he got a lawyer, invoked maritime salvage law, and demanded a fee.

But Noah Hagey, who is representing the Energy Team, says there are some discrepancies in Tholke’s account of how he “rescued” the boat.

“Our investigation has revealed that there are a number of serious problems with the allegations,” Hagey said. “We intend to bring them to the court’s attention this week.”

Some armchair sailors have speculated that Tholke cut the boat loose. Others have suggested that the French team didn’t properly secure the boat to the mooring.

Neither of those is true. The real problem is that the underwater area around Piers 30-32 is littered with chunks of concrete and iron bars. At low tide, the mooring line apparently got hooked on one of them.

When the tide came back up, the flotation ball attempted to push to the surface, but was held down. Eventually the strain snapped the line.

Now, about the security guard who was supposed to be watching the boats …

Christina Olague is leading a charmed life in the District Five supervisors’ race.

First she turned her back on Mayor Ed Lee and voted to reinstate Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. Although that solidified her progressive credentials, there was a backlash from Lee supporters, and progressives griped that she was only likely to split support with Julian Davis, who received an odd, very tepid, endorsement from the Bay Guardian.

But now Davis is imploding. After SF Weekly found a woman who accused Davis of unwanted sexual advances six years ago, rather than answering the charges, the Weekly says Davis sent a letter to the woman threatening legal action.

That was such a sleazy move that the Weekly reports that Supervisors David Campos and John Avalos withdrew their endorsements for Davis – which clears the way for Olague.

Meanwhile, jilted Olague supporters are trying to decide whom to support. The obvious choice is London Breed, whose handlers really wish she hadn’t gone all F-bomb in an interview.

Others suggest Thea Selby, who has a surprisingly large war chest.

“Which one is she?” you ask.

Exactly.

Stopped in at SB40, the casual hamburger and beer place on the Embarcadero, just north of the ballpark. Our server happened to be manager Hardy Barles. I asked him if he was excited to have tons of Giants fans stopping by before the game.

Although he said most of them are fine, “you wouldn’t believe how many people walk out on their checks,” he said. The worst are the families, with small children, who send the kids to the bathroom and tell them to sneak around the corner and meet Mom and Dad on the street.